Finding Hygge: Seven Cozy Drinking Spots In Copenhagen And A Chance To Win A Trip

Danes readily admit they live in a weather-challenged country. To cope, they channel creativity into the interior spaces they’re forced to inhabit year-round. The result is a merging of Scandinavian design with coziness. Danes call this concept hygge, a word that started creeping into the American lexicon last year. There’s no literal translation for hygge in English, but it typically evokes a mood, one of escaping from the elements, and uses textures and lighting to create warmth, atmosphere, and convivial intimacy between friends and loved ones.

To get into the holiday spirit, Scandinavian Airlines and VisitDenmark have launched a daily sweepstakes at FindingHygge that runs until Christmas Eve. Designed like an advent calendar, flip a new digital door each day to reveal a tip on Hygge-ness. Submit your email address to win generous travel prizes, including flights, dinners, and other adventures in Denmark.

Whether you win a trip to Copenhagen or pay your own way, here’s a list of seven of the city’s coziest drinking spots, from a candlelit third-wave coffee shop to a clandestine whisky bar in an attic.

Curfew Bar's back seating area.Lauren Mowery

1. Curfew Cocktail Bar – Opened in Vesterbro in 2015 by a Portuguese bartender, Curfew offers a slew of award-winning, seasonal, historical, and otherwise intelligent drinks in a pre-Prohibition-style setting. The owner, Humberto Marques, was recently featured in Forbes for his contribution to Copenhagen’s evolving cocktail scene. Stenosgade 1

The top floor of Lidkoeb is dedicated to whisky.Lidkoeb

2. Whisky Bar at Lidkoeb – Tucked away off the main street, this 3-story cocktail bar in a converted apothecary’s laboratory from the 19th century features a cozy crown jewel at its top. Located in the attic of Lidkoeb, this in-the-know spot serves a whisky-only menu of neat pours and cocktails, including artisan Danish brand Stauning. Vesterbrogade 72b

Bright during the day, the lights dim at night for maximum coziness.Mikkeller

3. Mikkeller Bar in Vesterbro – This craft brewer evokes the Brooklyn Brewery of Denmark -- rapidly expanding from a small, renegade operation into visions of world domination. Fortunately, the beers remain characterful and creative, and the coziest to place to drink them by candlelight is at the Vesterbro location, conveniently down the block from Curfew. Viktoriagade 8

Plenty of taps to choose from at Beer Barr.Lauren Mowery

4. Beer Barr at Restaurant Barr – Occupying the old Noma space, this shiny new beer lover’s haven is adjacent to Restaurant Barr, a partnership between Thorsten Schmidt and René Redzepi focused on the culinary traditions of the North Sea. The interior features warm wood, candles, and two dozen taps (90 different beers in total) with hard to find or rare suds from around the world or brewed to spec for them. Strandgade 93

Denmark's best and most prolific coffee roaster has several cafes around town.Lauren Mowery

5. Coffee Collective (multiple locations) – Coffee lovers who dig the Scandinavian style of lighter roasts, will know this third wave, city-wide chain akin to a Danish Blue Bottle. The small downtown cafe in a historic building at Berniklows, perfectly encapsulates hygge – drinking a freshly brewed pour over next to an elegant taper candle. Kristen Bernikows Gade 2

6. Balderdash – If Matt Orlando, owner and chef at Amass and former Chef de Cuisine at Noma says Balderdash is one of his preferred drinking spots, you listen. In fact, bar owner Geoffrey Canilao established a cocktail lab inspired by the food lab at Noma, so they’re aligned in the spirit of innovation. As if to confirm it’s a cozy place to imbibe, a neon sign curled into the word “hygge” hangs above the entrance. 1151 k, Valkendorfsgade 11

7. Duck and Cover – A subterranean spot the average tourist would never find, this dimly lit space sports low-slung mid-century furniture paired to an excellent cocktail list. The name fits the retro Danish look – it recalls the oft repeated slogan of the Cold War to “duck and cover” if a nuclear bomb was launched. Dannebrogsgade 6

When she's not in a vineyard or the ocean, Lauren Mowery covers drinks, food & adventure/luxury travel. Follow her around the world onInstagramandTwitter.